A PATIENT Luke Watkins eased his way back into action with a dominant 80-72 points victory over Hungarian Tamas Bajzath.

Watkins came into the fight after eight months of inactivity due to illness and injury, but the Paddy Fitzpatrick-trained fighter showed no signs of ring rust against Bajzath.

The unbeaten cruiserweight toyed with the Hungarian, who was blown away by English champion Matty Askin in two rounds earlier in the year, in the opening session, leading off with the left jab to keep Bajzath at range.

Watkins was not just content to lead off with a solid jab as he rocked his opponent with an over the-top-right in a very one-sided opening three minutes.

The Duke got his combinations working in the second, pushing Bajzath back easily and stalked his prey in the third, catching him with some heavy shots that had the Hungarian off-balance.

Watkins used his left-lead to good effect to control the fourth and fifth rounds.

The Fitzpatrick’s Gym fighter was showing plenty of patience as he dictated the contest and while Bajzath was limited, he was durable and did well not to crumble under the Duke’s power as he took numerous shots to the head and body.

As they went into the final session, Watkins had comfortably won every round and the eighth was no different, with the jab again the telling factor.